by J. Randal Matheny

No one will ever know the full results of one's work for the kingdom of God. Trite as it is, it's no less true that only eternity will reveal the fruit of our labors.

Occasionally, however, we are privileged to hear about how God has used our efforts. Below is an email I received yesterday. It bears sharing as a reminder of the Lord's work through our joint efforts.

I couldn't keep from sharing the gladness of the day, for I have an uncle with whom we've been studying some three years, and today he was immersed in the waters of baptism here in Sorocaba.

He attributed his decision to having read our church bulletin that circulates every week here in the Sorocaba congregation. It is in this bulletin that I use the messages of "God with Us."

On November 2nd I didn't have any material, so I searched out one from 2000, "Biblical Baptism," by Tom Tarbet, which was the spark for my uncle's decision.

So I want to thank you for your work, which helps us greatly and pleases God.

May God bless you and your entire team.

--Antonio Marcos Feitosa

"God with Us" (DEUS Conosco) is a devotional thought based on a Scripture verse which I do in Portuguese. The original idea was for it to be daily, but work responsibilities don't always permit me to give it full attention.

A recent meditation from "God with Us" has been translated into English and can be read here.

The article by Tom Tarbet comes from a series we published in Edificacao (Edification) magazine, translated with his permission from a volume of newspapers articles he did in while preaching in New York. Before his death, Tom was an elder in the Baker Heights congregation (Abilene, Tex.) and was an encouraging supporter of our publications ministry.

One of my first thoughts on reading the email from Marcos was that Tom would be pleased.

Above all, the Lord is pleased and the angels rejoice when one more soul is saved and ushered into his fellowship.

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